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The Kipping Muscle Up versus the Strict Muscle Up: Which is better? Well, they’re different. Not better, not worse, just different. I honestly don’t care which one you choose to perform, but I do have a strong opinion on which one you should focus on learning first. But no matter which one you choose as …
Continue reading “Kipping vs Strict Muscle Up: It’s All About the Transition”
If you’re into bodyweight training, you’re no doubt spending a lot of time on your hands. And while we might not normally pay them a lot of attention, your hands are kind of a big deal. In fact, a quarter of the motor cortex in the human brain (the part of the brain that controls …
Continue reading “Hand Maintenance for the Bodyweight Athlete”
The Single-Arm Push-Up is frequently cited as a prime example of bodyweight strength and prowess. But if you’ve begun the road to mastering this skill you know that it is a lot more than just strength: it requires an amazing amount of coordination and stability. And when done properly, it is the result of dedication …
The Floor Pike Push-Up is one of the first lead up exercises that is absolutely essential to master if you ever want to perform a free standing, flat back Handstand Push-Up. Watching a video of a super clean, free-standing Handstand Push-Up is what closed the deal on my transition to bodyweight training years ago. I …
Continue reading “Floor Pike Push-Up: A Starting Point for the Handstand Push-Up”
I’m excited to bring you our first post from our Animal Flow Master Instructor Clifton Harski. Clifton has a long history as a student of human movement, including as a lifelong athlete and collegiate basketball player who also holds a degree in Kinesiology His current position as Director of Programming for Fitwall, plus his previous …
Continue reading “Climbing and Swinging: Amp Up Your Pull-Up Strength!”
The Reverse Lunge Shrimp Squat is a great progression for one of my favorite bodyweight training subjects, single leg squat training. This is a fairly advanced exercise that will help you in your training for the Shrimp Squat, which is in itself an impressive variation of the Pistol Squat. In the GBT System, both the …
Continue reading “Reverse Lunge Shrimp Squat: Get a Leg Up on Your Squat Training!”
The “Pinnacle Exercises†are what we call the most advanced, staple exercises of the Bodyweight Athlete. But just as their name implies, the Pinnacles represent the higher level achievements in bodyweight training- nobody starts there. An entire continuum of regressions, progressions, and conditioning exercises need to be mastered along the way. In this tutorial, I’ll …
Continue reading “Floor Conditioning for Front and Back Levers: Training Without Bars”
I’m psyched to bring you this guest post by one of my favorite fellow bodyweight athletes, Al Kavadlo. He’s not only a lead instructor for the Progressive Calisthenics Certification (PCC), but is a prolific author (see below for links to my reviews). His latest book on flexibility and stretching is a must-read for anyone into …
The Reverse Hyperextension Elbow Lever is another great bodyweight training exercise that can be performed anywhere without any equipment, which is why I chose it for this week’s tutorial to post while I’m traveling. The exercise itself is a great combination move that increases the intensity and complexity of each individual component when they are …
Continue reading “The Reverse Hyperextension Elbow Lever: Strength with Full Range of Motion”
The Flexed Roll is a great way to build a foundation for performing a solid roll, an incredibly useful maneuver that crosses many bodyweight disciplines. While creating the GBT and Animal Flow systems, I was inspired by many different disciplines like Parkour, Gymnastics and Break Dancing. As a student of these different avenues of self …
Continue reading “The Flexed Roll: Roll Your Way to a Stronger Core!”
The 6-Point Pull-Up Variation is a great sequence of pull and chin ups that I put together to make use of the typical Pull-Up bar set up you find on most cross-over cable columns. I began doing this while trying to make the most of spotty access to good pull-up bars when traveling so much …
Continue reading “The 6-Point Pull-Up: Making Use of the Cable-System Pull-Up Bar”
The pistol squat is the essential leg exercise for the Bodyweight Athlete. For strength and stability there’s no other movement that compares. The Walking Pistol Squat takes your pistol training to a whole other level. The mechanics of this movement create a serious balance challenge as well as some hip and ankle mobility. Check out …
Continue reading “The Walking Pistol Squat: For Even More Complexity and Balance!”
The Hip Hinge Forearm Push-Up is another great bodyweight conditioning movement that serves as an awesome exercise by itself, while also preparing your body for more advanced progressions. The human body is an incredible network of levers that act together to create movement in all directions. We can change the leverage at a joint to …
Continue reading “The Hip Hinge Forearm Push Up: Bodyweight Leveraging at its Best!”
Parallel bars are an awesome bodyweight training tool for practicing your hand balancing, and this week we’ve got two incredible exercises for you to try out: the L-Sit to High Hip Tuck; and the L-Sit to Straddle Press-Up Handstand. Whether you are a gymnast, bar athlete or general bodyweight enthusiast, Parallels are an excellent place …
Continue reading “Parallel Bars: From L-Sits to Tucks and Presses and More!”
The Turtle Freeze is a staple hand balancing move in break dancing. But it’s more than just a fun dance move – it’s also an incredible exercise for creating total body tension as well as wrist, shoulder and trunk stability. This week we stopped by the practice spot of our boy Kevin “New Cre†Sanchez …
Continue reading “Turtle Freeze: Put Some BBoy Style in Your Hand Balancing!”
This week’s exercise brings us back to a Horizontal “Pushing†Pattern (ie Push-Up category): The Archer Push-Up, which is a great total body exercise that is also helpful for training for a Single-Arm Push-Up. In most cases if I asked someone to get down and perform a Single-Arm Push-Up (SAPU), what I usually see is …
Continue reading “The Archer Push-Up: You’ll Love This Variation!”
Wrist mobility exercises and stretches are an important tool for anyone who is into bodyweight training, hand balancing, or, of course, Animal Flow. This week’s video was inspired from a recent experience in my own personal journey. It’s fair to say that if you plan on dedicating yourself to practicing bodyweight training, you will be …
Continue reading “Wrist Exercises: Stretching and Mobilizing Matters!”
Rope climbing is one of my favorite alternatives for your vertical pulling patterns (after all, you can’t do pull-ups all the time!). It can be extremely challenging to work your way up to climbing using only your arms, so today we’re going to start at the beginning, with the S-Hook. I love rope climbing because …
This week’s video tutorial is a double feature, covering two Parkour essentials: the Wall Run and the Cat Leap. And we’re super excited to have Professional Parkour athlete and American Ninja Warrior David “Young Flip†Rodriguez teach us how to master them. Both of these movements are not only great exercises, but are also two …
Continue reading “Parkour Wall Run and Cat Leap: Train Like a Ninja with Young Flip”
The Tornado Pull-Up is a great variation on the timeless pull-up exercise. It’s no secret that Pull-Ups and Chin-Ups are one of the best exercises around. Sure, it might be impressive to see someone grunt out a ton of weight on a lat pull down machine, but the simple Pull-Up will always be a display …
Continue reading “The Tornado Pull-Up: Strength With a Twist”
